When I arrived in Jiangnan, April 8 was a Han festival again! The folk customs of the Han people in the south of the Yangtze River, the people in the south of the Yangtze River use the black rice grass (black rice leaves) on the mountain to soak the glutinous rice into black color (different from black), and the rice cooked into the dyed rice is called black rice, and black rice should be eaten on this day.

In addition, the Buyi and Dong ethnic groups all celebrate the festival on April 8.

Han Hakka festival

"April 8" is to commemorate the Eastern Jin Dynasty famous minister Xie An, has now become a symbol of the unity and coexistence of all surnames in Chen Dong, and is scheduled to hold a grand temple fair on the seventh day, the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, and the ninth day of the fourth lunar month every year. With the passage of time, "April 8" has now become a traditional Hakka cultural festival in Chendong, praying for smooth weather and peace in the coming year.

The Hakka nursery rhyme "Festival Song" circulating in Huizhou, Guangdong, one of which is "March Qingming April 8".

In the Hakka area of Taiwan, there is a bucket lantern on April 8, also known as the seven-star lamp, which is specifically completed by "rice bucket sheng rice candles, two wooden swords are inserted obliquely from both sides in the bucket, and a round mirror and scissors, rulers, scales, abacus, money, soil, etc. are placed in the center". The light represents the Big Dipper; Rice represents a good harvest of grains; The umbrella represents the king of the world, and the gods descend to bless the faith; Dou confession means praying for the glory of everyone's Yuanchen; The abacus represents fairness, justice, and justice; The sword generation means to eliminate demons and demons, and to drive away evil spirits; The ruler-shaped green dragon is a wood, and it is a person; The scale-shaped white tiger is gold, which means fairness and justice; The scissor-shaped vermilion bird belongs to fire, which means cutting evil and standing right; The mirror-shaped basalt is water, which means to reflect evil demons and reunite. To put it simply, it means to use a bucket lamp to drive away evil spirits and eliminate disasters.

It is said that the origin of this activity lies in the early years of the Republic of China, when there were two gentry in the upper and lower blocks of the urban area to race lanterns in the Lantern Festival, because it is difficult to distinguish between Xuan and Xuan, meet Mazu Sheng and rematch, and tie, so about in the "April 8" Buddha Bathing Festival to decide the winner, and the local faith center Yongzhen Palace and Yimin Temple also participate in the grand event, so it becomes a welcome event, which lasts for a long time.

Zhuang Festival

On the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, it is the Ox Soul Festival of the Zhuang people, also known as the Yoke Festival, which is popular in the Zhuang mountain villages in the Longsheng area of northern Guangxi. The Zhuang people love the cow and respect the cow, and they believe that the eighth day of the fourth month is the birthday of the ox king, so this day is positioned as the ox soul festival. On this day, when the plough is plowed, the oxen are unyoked, and the host feeds the cattle with freshly brewed sweet wine and five-colored glutinous rice dyed with plant juice; On this day, the cattle pen should be cleaned, the body of the cow should be washed, and when the cow bathes, the drum should be beaten; On this day, they should not beat the oxen, because if they do, they think that the oxen will be frightened away, which will be very detrimental to farming; On this day, every family has to hold a cow worship ceremony at noon, at this time, the whole family sits at the table full of banquets, and the parents lead the cow around the table, and at the same time sing the cow song and feed the cow to eat five-color rice. Finally, the whole family stood up and stroked the cow's back to express their blessings to the cow.

She ethnic festival

Also known as the "Cow Rest Festival"

The She people call themselves "Shanha", and "Ha" is a She language, which means "guest", referring to the guests who live in the mountains. In ancient times, she originally referred to slash-and-burn farming, with "she" as the name of the nation, which began at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty and has been more than 700 years so far.

Ruiyun is one of the She ethnic groups in She Township, Kipmen, where the She compatriots pioneer and reclaim the land, work bravely, and speak with songs, convey love with songs, create a unique national culture in the long history, and maintain its unique national costumes, wedding customs, folk customs such as mountain songs and singing. The eighth song king festival in the fourth month of the lunar calendar, also known as the "cow rest festival".

It is said that during the Spring and Autumn Period, there were two singers in the Chu State, one named Zhong Ziqi and the other named Zhong Yi. The tunes of the Chu national musician Bole playing the piano "big drink" and "small drink" are intended to be high mountains and flowing water, and only Zhong Zi can harmonize with his tone.

After Zhong Ziqi's death, Bole dropped the piano and never played the piano again. Zhong Yi was originally the Duke of Chu Yun, and was recommended by Zheng Guo to be dedicated to the Jin Kingdom, and the King of Jin asked him to play the piano and sing. Zhong Yi took over the skills of Bole and Zhong Ziqi playing and singing, "playing the piano, playing the southern sound, and playing the local style". The king of Jin was very happy when he heard this, reused him, and named him the post of waiter of the Ministry of Rites.

Later, in order to commemorate the two singers of the She family, the She family had to set up an altar on the eighth day of April every year, hold a song meeting, sing "big drink" and "small drink", and take this day as the traditional festival of the She nationality "April 8" singer festival. At the same time, this day is the festival of the cattle of the She family, in order to thank the cattle for a year of hard work, "it is strictly forbidden to whip to set the soul of the cow", but also for the good forage and the best cow wine brewed at home for the cattle to eat and drink, the shepherd boy sang loudly over and over again "Ox Song": the horns of the cow were born flat and flat, the body carried a thousand pounds of plows, the buffalo cooked for people to eat, the eighth day of the first month of April rested, which is also called the "Ox Rest Festival".

Dong Festival

The people of the Dong nationality in Jiuzhai regard April 8 as the Ox King Festival. Ox King Festival, Kam called "Tuosheng Ni", which means "Ox's birthday", also called "Ox King Meeting", Kam language, means "Dinner for the Ox's birthday". On this day, the women of each family cook white rice for the cattle at home, fry oil tea, and boil eggs for the cattle to eat in good conditions, in order to show people's affectionate condolences and enthusiastic rewards for it before the spring ploughing is busy. After the lunch party is over, people go to the house, pull up their sleeves, put their hands in the wooden basin, try whether the rice and oil tea in the basin are hot, and then pick up the wooden basin, take the eggs and roast wine to the cattle pen, so that the cattle are full to eat.

At this time, the owner often has to hold the cow's head and caress it, saying: "Niu Er, you are my family's wealth, you are my family's treasure, all year round, you will work hard, you will eat well, drink well." May you have no disasters and no difficulties, no wonder and no plague and work hard with me, in exchange for a bumper harvest and prosperity in every way, and I will come to entertain you again in the coming year. At this time, the ox seemed to understand human nature, and it stretched out its tongue to lick people, and squinted its eyes and smiled at people. When the cow was full, the baby cub on the side pulled it out to eat the tender grass, rinse its body, and comb its hair. Grooming is very serious, and if someone's cow is not clean and the hair is not shiny, people will despise his family and say that he is lazy. After the cattle go out, the owner cleans the cattle pen and then puts on a dry and fluffy straw or thatch to let the cattle spend their holidays comfortably. During the Ox King's Day, cattle are not allowed to fight, and cattle are not allowed to be slaughtered for meat, nor are cattle allowed to work. In short, on the day of the Ox King Festival, even if Lei Gong went to the ground, it was difficult to move half of his hair. The owners of the house have to accompany the cow on this day for their birthday, and after the cow is pulled back into the pen, they go around the cowpen and tinker, for fear that they will not be thoughtful and can't live with their beloved ploughing cattle; Some of them go out to eat fresh grass and enjoy the natural pleasure of mountains and rivers.

On this day, people also observe the weather and predict the beginning of the year. I hope it will be a sunny day, so that it will be good to clean up for the cattle, so that it will be happy and happy during the festival, recuperate and recharge, and welcome the pear rake; Second, this is still an indication of a good harvest in the year. Originally, on the day of the beginning of summer, I already knew a little about the quality of the year, and the agricultural proverb said: "The beginning of summer should go down, the beginning of summer will not fall, and the pear rake will hang high." Really, it is said that this day is of great importance to the peasants and to the world. If this day is really shining, then people are so excited that they will even think that this is the manifestation of Grandpa Niuwang's Shengwei, which will bring auspiciousness to the world, so the whole village of men, women and children are intoxicated with the carnival festive atmosphere.